not at all what I expected

I rented this movie expecting a movie like "A Night at the Roxbury",
"Superstar", or "Coneheads" - not a great plot or great acting, but a lot of
laugh-out-loud, tasteless jokes that will cause me to feel guilty for
laughing later. Not very good movies critic-wise, but I need a good
tasteless comedy every now and then.

However, "Stuart Saves His Family" is different. It had a bittersweet plot
and some pretty good acting. It turned out to be a good movie. On the other
hand, it wasn't tastelessly laugh-out-loud funny. In fact, I only remember
laughing once in the whole movie.

So did "Stuart Saves His Family" accomplish its goal, or did it fail
miserably? I'm not quite sure. I still don't know what to think of this
movie. I'd say it's worth renting just for its uniqueness.

One of the best SNL movies?

That doesn't sound like an accomplishment, since the best SNL movies are
probably "Blues Brothers" and "Wayne's World," and both are uneven.
Furthermore, Stuart Smalley seems at first glance like one of the most
obnoxious characters to base a movie around. He has characteristics that
turn a lot of people off (effeminate, new agey, "caring"), but Franken shows
that this veneer is painfully constructed over anger and hurt, and you end
up actually liking him better the more time you spend with him. (The TV
skits tend to just make fun of him.) One of the movie's most interesting
scenes is between Franken and Laura San Giacomo when he tells her "I love
you." In any other Hollywood movie, this would be a romantic-interest scene,
because everyone knows you can't have a male and female star in a movie
without their getting together. Well, here it's that incredibly rare thing:
a scene of genuine friendship and support, with Stuart's sexuality left out
of the question. To me, that's more impressive than if they got into a
liplock.

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10 out of 13 people found the following review useful:

A really nice, surprising movie

This movie is so much better than anything you'd expect. Needless to
say, most of the films based on SNL characters are pretty lame, and
this one slipped under the radar so quickly, you might assume it's
another "It's Pat". It's not! If you like the Stuart Smalley character,
you'll of course be more disposed to liking the film. But even those
previously unfamiliar with the 12-step junkie will find a sweet and
surprisingly honest story here -- one that both pokes fun at self-help
groups and acknowledges that they can work. There are plenty of laughs;
and in its treatment of Stuart's highly dysfunctional family of origin,
this film achieves something near-great. Watch and see. And "get
yourself to a pound cake!"

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8 out of 12 people found the following review useful:

Still totally hilarious after all these years

I recently recalled the Stuart Smalley affirmation, "I'm good enough,
I'm smart enough, etc...", as a joke in a conversation with a coworker,
and felt inspired to watch this film again. Note the fact that Stuart's
"affirmation" has the distinction of being one of those rare TV/film
buzzlines that become part of American pop vocabulary, and you already
have an insight to the quality and staying power of Al Franken's humor,
and of this movie as well.

I was delighted to find that indeed, "Stuart Saves His Family" was just
as gut-bustingly funny as it was 10 years ago at its release. For those
who care about such things, this is a film that got thumbs up and good
reviews from Ebert and the late Siskel, and generally good reviews
across the board. There were the token detractors. But the truth is,
this is one of the better-reviewed films to come out of the SNL/Lorne
Michaels franchise because it is one of the better films.

The underlying joke in the film (and the Stuart character itself) is a
satire of 12-step programs and the recovery "culture"--and there is
one--and the humor admittedly is probably funnier to those connected to
that culture, or to human services professionals. But even those not
familiar with self-help and recovery philosophies will appreciate the
humor in the blatant satire of the clichés and affirmations and even
the demeanor of those who practice these philosophies. Phrases like
"shame spiral," "making amends," "rage-aholic," "owning my anger," and
the like, when lampooned, are simply funny in and of themselves,
especially when delivered deadpan by characters like Stuart. Because
there are so many of these clichés, they remain fresh and humorous
throughout the film. And viewers will certainly recognize and hopefully
be able to laugh with the movie at the dysfunctional qualities of their
own families and friends reflected there.

In a nutshell, the Stuart character is a guy involved in multiple
recovery programs to correct the effects of coming from an alcoholic
family. He has decided to share his wisdom through a public access
cable show showcasing recovery philosophies, and as the film unfolds he
faces a number of humorous crises related to his show. At the same
time, his dysfunctional family undergoes a series of crises related to
the death of an aunt. We are introduced to Stuart's alcoholic father,
guilt-inducing mother, anxious overeating sister, and addict brother.
The story that unfolds about the family's response to the crises, with
their chaotic family interactions and childhood flashbacks both
hilarious and touching, ends up being woven back into the drama around
Stuart's cable show for a satisfying, if not all-too-realistic,
resolution.

The film has been lauded for being a comedy with depth, because it is
at heart a story about families and relationships--all dysfunctional,
of course. There are some scenes that literally are tear-jerkers in the
film, dealing with the affects of alcoholism and broken relationships,
as well as the hope that recovery philosophies can bring. Indeed, one
of the rewarding things about the film is that the recovery culture is
both the butt of the joke, and at the same time is correctly
represented as having a real, positive impact in peoples' lives. Though
as in real life, we find that for the Smalley family, not everything
can be fixed. And that gives this film, surprisingly, a ring of
authenticity.

The other thing that struck me this time around was that the movie has
a number of very talented actors in the supporting cast: Vincent
D'Onofrio, Laura San Giacomo, Harris Yulin. Certainly this helped to
carry the movie, but the screenplay is tight and the comedic timing of
the dialog consistently right on. Whether you're looking for a good
spoof of pop psychology and the recovery culture, dysfunctional
families, or just a well-made comedy, this movie will satisfy.

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2 out of 2 people found the following review useful:

Uneven, but good

Whenever trying to memorialize the recently departed, I tend to seek
out lesser known films by them, or at least films that I haven't seen.
I'd always wanted to see this film, adapted from the Stuart Smalley
sketches from Saturday Night Live. I remember Siskel & Ebert liking the
film quite a bit back in the day, plus the star is now my Senator. And
this is actually quite a good film. What's most surprising about it is
it's actually quite serious for what it is. In fact, trying to get the
serious subject to work while also trying to keep the same style of
comedy the sketches had on SNL makes it a little tonally uneven, but I
love what they were trying. Al Franken stars as Stuart Smalley, who
hosts a cable access show called Daily Affirmations, where he reveals
his many problems to his small audience and tries to work through them.
As the film opens, his producer fires him. Soon after, his aunt dies so
he goes back home to Minneapolis for the funeral. His family is hugely
dysfunctional, with many drinking and weight problems. He tries to
help. The film takes the problems entirely seriously. I mean, there is
comedy, but the family dysfunction is never the butt of the joke. Al
Franken is very good and the character is given more subtlety than he
had on SNL. Vincent D'Onofrio plays his younger brother, Harris Yulin
his father, Shirley Knight his mother and Lesley Boone his sister.
Laura San Giacomo and Julia Sweeney also co-star as Stuart's friends.
Not a great movie, but a nice one.

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2 out of 2 people found the following review useful:

No belly laughs, but good.

A not-so-well-remembered SNL movie based on a not-so-well-remembered
SNL sketch. I watched it last night, and I don't think I've ever seen
it before so it was kind of surprising at how unfunny it was. Not
necessarily in a bad way, but it just felt more like an offbeat drama
than a comedy. It dealt with real issues and didn't have pristine
solutions and I've left it feeling contemplative and, to be honest, a
little sad, which is sort of a compliment and sort of isn't. But the
acting in the movie is great. I have this idea in my head of Al Franken
as this gruff, intense comedic force but here he's so soft-spoken and
calm so you gotta hand it to him, the guy is COMMITTED. Laura San
Giacomo is also excellent and has a heartbreaking little speech. And
Vincent D'Onofrio as the pothead slacker brother is good stuff. I don't
know. Not sure how I altogether feel about it. I'd probably give it a
6/10, not great but by no means bad. I think it's on Netflix. Check it
out.

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3 out of 5 people found the following review useful:

In its own way, the best SNL-character based film ever

For those you who don't know that Al Franken became a political
author/congressional candidate, he was a funny comedian who had
entertained "Saturday Night Live" audiences since the 70's, and into
the 1990's (off-and-on). His most famous character was a self-help, for
lack of a better word, addict; i.e., his character was addicted to
self-help groups, sponsors, 12 step meetings, etc., because he lacked
or was coming to terms with his low self-confidence everyday and was
trying to spreading self-esteem to others through a fictional cable
access show on SNL called "Daily Affirmations with Stuart Smalley."

He would say things like "Doggone it, people like me." Okay, that's a
lousy summation of an SNL character made into a film, but if I told you
about two blues singing brothers who were wanted by all of Chicago ...
of two rock n' roll delinquents who had their own cable show ... or two
party guys whose heads moved when they heard "What is Love ..." ...
would you know what the hell the fess is about in every case? If you
want to look up Stuart on YouTube, or DVD feel free. He was funny, at
times. But for this movie, know that it is both funny and sad (in a
dark humor way) as we see a child of alcoholics and food addicts
overcome his past, this film is a pretty damn good one. Directed by
Harold Ramis, it doesn't go for any real forced SNL-inspired laughs,
even though there are a lot in there if you want to look. The laughs
basically occur because they come from pain, comedy's actual twin.
There is a both sad and happy ending (or is it happy and sad?) from
this film, but its never forced because Ramis, Franken, Vincent
D'Onofrio, Juila Sweeny, and Laura San Giacomo know how to play the
tightrope between pain and humor. It's not perfect, but its easily one
of the best SNL character movies ever made, and one of the best about
family alcoholism.

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3 out of 5 people found the following review useful:

Great movie

This is one of best comedies of all times. The psychology of the main
character is very incisive and realistic. However it is put in a
grotesque context. Other characters are also very true to life or
rather caricatures of certain types of people. The brother and the
father of the main character seem to bring up the politically correct
goofiness and dorkines of Al Franken. The Mother cuts also a very real
and yet exaggerated person. The plot flows well and the whole
dysfunctional family is funny and sad at the same time. The friends of
Al Franken are also funny in their pseudo psychological babble and
pretense. I find this film to be so good that I have bought the DVD.

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2 out of 4 people found the following review useful:

not what I expected yet loved it!

surprisingly, what I thought would be a farce had some interesting
depth. What's starts off as lampooning 12 step programs becomes a
touching and somewhat tragic ride through recovery. Laced with humor,
this is a dry, yet poignant study in recovery from 'our family of
origin'. I watched this with several friends and we were stunned at the
ending, namely,Stauart did not save all his family because it was their
choice not to be saved. As Stuart says, he needed to move on with his
life.Its easier to wear slippers than to carpet the whole world. True
enough,you cannot fix others, particularly those who do not want to be
fixed. Some revel in their misery or are so addicted to it some real
peace would be disturbing. D'on't expect a major laugh riot here in
this movie, expect the subtleties of humanity and conditions to give
you a smirk, a grin,an 'aha' here and there. The real humor comes in
Stuarts' journey. I salute the filmmakers for adding some really
'teary' moments.Alcoholism isn't fun. Perhapsthose touched by this
disease,particularly those children (grown or not) who still ache from
the hurts. You'll cheer Stauart for his own personal choices, not
because he couldn't get his father into rehab.